The Honourable Michael M. Fortier has been the vice chairman of RBC Capital Markets since October 2010. Prior to joining the Royal Bank of Canada, he had been principally active in the fields of banking, politics, and law.

Over the past 25 years, Mr. Fortier has worked as a senior relationship banker for several investment banking firms on Wall Street (Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse) and in Canada (TD Securities). He worked for Norton Rose, a leading Canadian law firm, in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Between January 2006 and November 2008, Mr. Fortier served as Canada's minister of public works and minister of international trade. Throughout this period, he was also the minister responsible for Greater Montreal. Mr. Fortier chaired Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative Party leadership campaign in 2004 and the party's 2004 and 2006 federal election campaigns.

Mr. Fortier sits on the boards of CAE, Aimia (formerly Aeroplan), and Pomerleau. He is involved in many philanthropic organizations; among his other responsibilities, he is the chairman of the Ste Justine Hospital Foundation. He has accepted numerous pro bono assignments from municipal, provincial, and federal governments, notably negotiating the return of Formula One racing to Canada in 2010.

Mr. Fortier lives in Montreal with his wife Michelle and their six children.